Strong winds force cancellation of races in the Netherlands, Belgium and France

Mar 10 2019 11:54 pm CET

Photo by ASO/Alex BROADWAY

The strong winds have forced many races to be cancelled in France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

One of the affected races by the weather was the Omloop van de Westhoek, a competition that is part of the Women Elite UCI 1.1 calendar. The second edition of the competition, which was won in 2018 by Sunweb's Floortje Mackaij, was set to start and finish in the town of Errnegem, in Belgium, and to be held over a 131.2-kilometre route.

Another race to be cancelled due to strong winds was the Grand Prix Jean-Pierre Monsere, which was going to be held over a 114.6-kilometre route from and to Roeselare, Belgium. This was the first time the competition was to take place in the spring, as before was in summer, and was set to be broadcast on Belgian television for the first time ever.

The Dutch Rabobank Dorpenomloop Rucphen was another race affected by the bad weather. The 43rd edition of the 1.2 race was set to be 180 kilometres long in the town of Rucphen and had the potential of finishing in a bunch sprint.

The last race to be cancelled was the French Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers Bruno Comini, which was going to be 181 kilometres long with a start and a finish in Lillers, in the north of France.

Wind also played a part in the first stage of Paris-Nice, forcing the formation of echelons that broke the peloton and caused some riders to lose almost three minutes to the front group. The stage was won by Dylan Groenewegen and riders like Esteban Chaves, Mikel Nieve, Miguel Angel Lopez and Marc Soler lost more than one minute in the General Classification.